Best COI tracking software for construction: how to choose
Quick answer
Decide who should review each certificate. If you want another company to verify COIs for you, look at a managed service like Jones. If you want AI-led COI tracking on its own, look at Billy, illumend (formerly myCOI) or TrustLayer. If you want your own reviewer to decide, with the sub’s lien waivers and W-9 on the same record, SubLien is built for that.
The question that separates them: who reviews the certificate?
Someone else reviews it
Jones collects COIs from subcontractors and verifies coverage against your project requirements for construction and commercial real estate teams. Fits when nobody in-house wants to read certificates.
AI-led COI platforms
Billy is COI tracking built for construction, with AI review of certificates and endorsements and a Procore integration. illumend is myCOI’s AI-powered compliance platform, launched in 2025. TrustLayer is a compliance automation platform used in construction and other industries. Fits when insurance compliance is a dedicated function with its own tool.
Your reviewer decides, beside the rest of the sub’s file
SubLien reads the ACORD 25 and prefills each coverage line with its limits and its own expiry date, quoting the text it read. It compares that against your company, project or vendor minimums. A named person on your team adopts or changes each value and records the decision. The sub’s lien waivers, W-9 and other documents sit on the same record.
What no COI software can tell you
A certificate of insurance is a summary. It doesn’t amend the policy and it doesn’t create additional-insured status by itself. Whatever tool you choose, the useful output is a clear record of what the certificate states, what falls short of your minimums, and who looked at it. More in how to read an ACORD 25 and what to do when a COI comes back short.
Five things to check in any demo
- Per-line expiry. GL and umbrella can expire on different dates. Does the tool track each line, or only one date per certificate?
- Your minimums, your way. Can you set a company default and raise it for one project or one sub? (Typical minimums by trade.)
- Where the number came from. When the tool reads a limit, can you see the text it read?
- Who signs off. Is a named person recorded on each decision, or does the software mark certificates “compliant” by itself?
- The rest of the file. When you approve a payment, can you see the same sub’s lien waiver and W-9?
Where SubLien fits — and where it doesn't
- Fits: GCs who want their own team to make the call on each certificate, with the source text in front of them.
- Fits: anyone tired of checking COIs in one system and lien waivers in another.
- Doesn't fit: teams that want an outside company to review every certificate for them. SubLien doesn't provide a review service.
- Doesn't fit: procurement that requires a SOC 2 report from the vendor itself. Sublien LLC doesn't hold one.
See how it works on the COI tracking page, or compare lien waiver software.
Common questions
- What does COI tracking software do?
- It collects certificates of insurance from subcontractors, reads the limits and dates, compares them with the minimums you set, and chases renewals before a certificate expires. The products differ mostly in who makes the final call on each certificate.
- Can software tell me a subcontractor is properly insured?
- No software can promise that from a certificate alone. An ACORD 25 summarizes coverage; the policy and endorsements control. Good software records what the certificate states, flags what doesn't meet your minimums, and shows who reviewed it.
- Do subcontractors need an account to send a COI?
- With SubLien, no. The sub or their insurance agent uploads from a secure email link. Many tools work the same way; ask in the demo.
Watch SubLien read one of your own COIs.
Bring an ACORD 25 from a current sub. We'll show the prefilled lines, the comparison with your minimums, and the review record.